Gods of Egypt

Alex Proyas’ Gods of Egypt is thus far one of the most negatively reviewed Hollywood films of the year. The initial trailer for the film received (for lack of a better word) backlash in the form of comments on social media addressing a predominantly white main cast instead of an all-black one – although (despite its inclusion on the African continent) Egypt’s geographical position and history arguably suggests a historically ethnic population closer to predominantly Arabic or similar, if not a mix of Arabic and black. One can speculate, but in either case, one of the first criticisms that audiences and critics have made surrounds the concept of “whitewashing” (which, while referring to a problem in contemporary cinema, sounds in itself a derogatory term). Due to issues with distribution, release of the film was delayed outside of the US, being released in the UK in June instead of February, after the film had been released in the US on DVD in May.

For instance, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956), while a cinematic masterpiece, is listed as an example of “whitewashing” in film, having a predominantly white cast playing Egyptian and Hebrew characters. While one might expect this of a film made in the 1950s, a great deal of western society recognises the diversity of its population and believe that Hollywood films should reflect this in contemporary film. Proyas responded to criticisms surrounding the issue of race and apologised for the casting in Gods of Egypt, noting a number of reasons why his initial attempts to make the cast more ethnically diverse or accurate were hindered. However, the background cast seems greatly more diverse than the main cast, which could be perceived as contradictory. Misrepresentation of characters through race has existed throughout film history and continues to this day. Gods of Egypt is not the only film to be the subject of controversy this year regarding this issue, but for those wishing for more black, Arabic or Egyptian heroes or main casts in American cinema and fantasy, the film misses out on the opportunity to increase the number of present-day movies to meet these kinds of societal standards and inspire Hollywood filmmakers to meet these standards in the future.

Taking into account the controversial issue, one feels it is important to assess the quality of the film itself. The film is set in Ancient Egypt in a fictionalised version of Earth, based on what appears to be Ancient Egyptian cosmology, where gods rule over mortals like a monarchy. The background for the story is explained in a sequence at the beginning, which is a decent sequence even if the visual style doesn’t really match that of the rest of the film.

The story follows Bek (Brenton Thwaites), a thief, who strikes a bargain with Horus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) to go on a quest to retrieve Horus’ eyes, defeat the evil god Set (Gerard Butler) and rescue his love Zaya (Courtney Eaton). The overall acting is somewhat hit and miss. Bek and Zaya seem simple but a little bland; as a couple they are basically oversimplified young lovers. Zaya is barely featured and her central character traits hardly extend past the notion of her faith, and Bek is something of a naïve optimist. The funny thing is how inexplicably agile Bek is established to be in a scene where he dodges booby traps in a treasure chamber, greatly contrasting from his introductory scene where all he does is rob a shop and run down the street! Horus is initially portrayed as a privileged playboy rather than a dignified prince, introduced in a shot where he wakes up with a hangover, which is supposed to be funny but is almost predictable in how tired it is. To be fair, Horus’ character in the prologue could be considered a starting point to contrast to his progression from self-interested recluse to learning respect for the mortals he intends to rule, which gives Bek importance to the plot, and Coster-Waldau gives decent deliveries of it. Often times an issue with the performances, however, is where certain use of emphasis on dialogue can sound slightly strange. Gerard Butler’s performance of Set is one of the most enjoyable in the film. The man has a great villainous charm as he portrays a proud tyrant. It’s actually kind of hilarious to think how the film at the beginning makes no secret of his being evil – his introduction involves interrupting a coronation ceremony with a threatening army, and the other gods think this is totally benign!

Other gods involved in the heroes’ journey are Hathor (Élodie Yung), Thoth (Chadwick Boseman) and appearances by Ra surprisingly portrayed by Geoffrey Rush. Hathor basically serves as Horus’ love interest with whom the two have some mistrust, and she is a contributory member of the team. A creative point to her character is that the filmmakers do give her substantial superpowers linked to her role as the goddess of love besides conventional beauty. Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of Thoth, god of wisdom, though this particular casting has been perceived as the token “magical black man” stereotype, is a thoroughly entertaining performance as a sophisticated, confident, vain and intellectual character to the point that something about him feels otherworldly. Again, one might not expect Geoffrey Rush to play Ra, although his portrayal and the representation of the character shows a side to the figure that one might not get the impression of given his usual depictions in the form of image. The character is seen as a toiling watcher and protector alone in his ship above the world, appearing weak and judgmental but still having power. The supporting cast includes Set’s master builder Urshu (Rufus Sewell), who works well as a slimy, greedy villain’s sidekick.

The mise-en-scène, including costumes, props and sets, is beautifully coloured and detailed with an Ancient Egyptian theme, as is much of the lore of the fictional world. The gods in this film take humanoid form but are able to transform into anthropomorphic animals, though there is a question to why Horus and Set transform into shiny armoured forms when other gods’ animal heads look more organic. Ra’s vessel has a good design, like a primitive boat in space coloured black with golden highlights, and the film includes Ra’s mythological opponent Apophis (who some may refer to as Apep), depicted as a colossal worm instead of a serpent, with a design possessing so many teeth as to make the creature appear positively Lovecraftian.

There are a number of action scenes throughout this fantasy film. Scenes like Horus and Set battling in their winged metallic forms, Bek and Horus trying to strategise against giant serpents rode by Astarte (Yaya Deng) and Anat (Abbey Lee), and Horus fending off a Sphinx (Kenneth Ransom) while Thoth tries to solve a riddle, have energy, high impact action, a degree of tension and fair pacing. However it’s probably worth noting that it is the female Sphinx of Ancient Greek mythology that asks riddles, not the male Ancient Egyptian one that guards the pyramids. The most disappointing action scene is that between Ra and Apophis; he blasts it a few times and it goes away in less than a minute. This colossal worm of chaos is really more of a nuisance to Ra rather than a deadly enemy.

The story is pretty simple. After establishing characters, setting and inciting incidents, the formula of the plot mainly consists of the heroes moving from one location to another to acquire the odd bit of guidance, tools or sometimes allies to help them defeat Set and facing challenges on the way. It’s basically the quest story archetype, and honestly the concept isn’t bad. The story elements and characters are based on Egyptian mythology, and it shows to one familiar with such things, reinventing them in a fantasy setting. However, the writing and plot have their detriments.

Though it makes an attempt in some parts to make dialogue interesting, it isn’t quotable and there are weaker moments. There are funny lines here and there that earn the crack of a smile at least, but unfortunately the writer and director allowed reactions, both in writing and as actor deliveries, that are trying to be funny but are out of place in a film like this, making the tone confused at times and coming off as cartoonish.

Most of the relationships are addressed, though Bek and Zaya don’t have much time together to get an idea of their relationship beyond young love, and there’s barely any romantic chemistry between Horus and Hathor other than attraction and details of their background. Though Horus and Set are shown to be family at the beginning, one is liable to forget that due to Horus’ lack of a sense of personal betrayal and Set interacting with him like a transparent villain. One of the worst neglected relationships is the marriage between Set and Nephthys (Emma Booth). In mythology, they are husband and wife, and the film mentions this in the middle rather than at the beginning when Set and Nephthys are in the same place together at a family event! So when the two are talking about how she once fell in love with him and that he’s gone mad with power, the audience cannot get invested in what should be a complicated or tragic relationship when the film establishes too late that this relationship is supposed to exist in the first place!

There is also a share of inconsistencies in the story that greatly break the audience’s suspension of disbelief, particularly in the ending. The rules are set that Horus cannot transform without both his eyes, except when Ra grants him the power to do so, but only so he can fly up to his ship. Also, Set is given a specific weakness that Horus must go on a journey to exploit. Both of these rules are completely broken, one of which because the hero learns some contrived lesson and the other for no reason at all. The film ends on the kind of cliffhanger that could be considered sequel bait, though the story itself is pretty self-contained. It’s debatable whether the film really needs a sequel, or if the negative reception of the film will allow one.

As a fantasy adventure with beautiful visuals and visual design, semi-interesting lore and decent action (most of the time), Gods of Egypt does have some manner of watchable value. It has creative ideas and the arc between Bek and Horus is executed fairly enough. Where it loses merit to the point of ruination is its inconsistent and sloppy storytelling, mixed quality of dialogue, a number of disengaging performances, lack of interesting drama, and, as so many have pointed out, an ethnically inaccurate cast to the culture that conceived the mythology this story is based on. Originally an idea coming from a good place, but ultimately its appeal barely extends past its visuals.

Warcraft

Duncan Jones’ Warcraft is an adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s real-time strategy videogame series of the same name. The plot revolves around the unfolding of a war between the Humans of a world known as Azeroth and an invasion of Orcs from a dying world called Draenor. The film follows two heroes on opposite sides who fight for their people or home: Anduin Lothar (Travis Fimmel), a Human Warrior of the city of Stormwind who is called upon to investigate the invasion, and Durotan (Toby Kebbell), an Orc Chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan fighting for his family and the survival of his race.

The first thing one might notice is the design, which is beautifully accurate to that of the games, from the imaginatively crafted Humans’ armour to and the general design of the Orcs as well as the motion capture technology to bring the Orcs to life. The design of the games even translates to that of other races of Azeroth, in minor appearances, like the general shape of the Dwarves and the glowing eyes and long eyebrows of the Blood Elves.

For one unfamiliar with the Warcraft series, its lore and characters, the film has the task of introducing the world to the audience. It can be difficult for the uninitiated to remember the names of some of the characters. It familiarizes the audience with the locations, their names, what they are, who lives there or any general defining features. Some details are vague, but not altogether confusing. The politics of the world are not always clear, such as why a Mage would need to conceal his identity in Stormwind at the beginning of the story – does Stormwind not have Mages in its employ, and if not, why? The design of the locations are also very creative, perhaps overly CGI’d but also nicely colour graded.

The overall performances are fair, but either to their merit or detriment, the facial expressions of each character appear to be constant. Fimmel has received positive feedback on his performance, his character Anduin described as ‘steadfast and charismatic’, and often playing jokes on Khadgar, a Mage, whom Ben Schnetzer portrays well as wide-eyed, nervous and intellectual. The Orcs, like Durotan, are expressive, owing a lot to their huge computer-generated tusked mouths. Durotan is the one the audience can most identify with, given his relationship with his wife Draka (Anna Galvin) and his friend Orgrim (Robert Kazinsky). The Orcs are depicted as they are later on in the videogame series, with a sense of honour instead of simply being brutish beasts. The voice acting on the Orcs is good, having deepness and sometimes gruffness to compliment their size and muscular frames, but also smoothness for an element of sympathy towards characters like Durotan and Orgrim. Paula Patton plays as Garona, a half-Human-half-Orc, who does a fair enough job as a tough, multilingual, somewhat aggressive and compromised character – though how Garona speaks such fluent Human in such a short time on Azeroth is a little unbelievable. Ben Foster plays as Medivh, a powerful Mage and Guardian of Azeroth, portrayed as reclusive with a stiff disposition, whom the film makes no secret of his being pulled to the dark side. The villain of the film is Gul’dan (Daniel Wu), a constantly scowling Orc Warlock, who is quite a scary villain with his ruthlessly draining the life force of others to fuel his magic and harsh influence over the Horde.

There is a flaw in the story in that the audience may not form a connection with the characters. In Durotan and Draka’s case, we’re introduced to their family from the start, but Anduin’s son Callan (Burkely Duffield) has no appearance or mention until halfway through the movie, so any drama with this relationship is a little difficult to get invested in. At one point the film tries to materialise romantic chemistry between Anduin and Garona, but said romance does not appear in any other part of the film before or after, and it seems somewhat inappropriate given the moment. If some parts of the story are rushed, like for example when characters are killed and the audience doesn’t know who they are, they’re unlikely to feel for the moment. One might feel a little iffy about the ending. While not idealistic, which is actually the point of a series like this, the setup to the climactic battle feels a little conflicting with the Orcs’ sense of honour in this story.

The action itself is a great rush of fantasy violence, with swords, sorcery and monsters. The resolution to the final battle between the armies is simultaneously tragic and serene, though one of Anduin’s duels is a bit of an anticlimax.

As the first film in an intended series, one of Warcraft’s purposes is to set up sequels, doing so in such a way that the story may not be self-contained, but perhaps in the same way George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode IV (1977) left some loose ends before parts V and VI. The tone of the story is perhaps not what one would expect for a movie this visually colourful, the storytelling isn’t great and there are a few things that are rushed or don’t seem to make sense. That said it is possible this movie is mainly made for fans of the game series, but even for those uninitiated it is moderately easy to understand and even more so sit through. The special effects are impressive, the cinematography is fine, the action is satisfying, and the character design, location design and fantasy elements are marvelous. One has mixed feelings on whether the film is actually good or not, but it is at least enjoyable.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

After Jonathan Liebesman’s negatively received Michael Bay-produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), one promises oneself not see the sequel to the film should it be released, but then one starts a blog on which they write film reviews requiring them to do so. Dave Green’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows could be considered a nostalgic throwback to the fondly remembered movies and cartoon of the late 80s and early 90s, featuring new versions of characters and story elements such as Casey Jones, Bebop and Rocksteady, Krang and the Technodrome. Returning to the series alongside Michael Bay are fellow producers Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Galen Walker and Scott Mednick.

A significant improvement this film has over its predecessor is that it devotes some focus to better illustrate the relationship between the Turtles and to their emotional needs. Their characterisation has also improved – for example, Mikey is less annoying (at least most of the time) and Donny is represented as smart and sensitive as opposed to stereotypically nerdy. The story follows a theme of the Turtles wanting to fit in and to be accepted in the world without needing to stay in hiding, not unlike Quasimodo (only without the music). Truth be told, it’s not a bad subplot. It gives the Turtles an issue that makes them quite relatable, and it gives way to a few emotional moments. Its failing is in its resolution, in which these issues are too easily resolved, and is not exactly ideal.

The film opens with introducing the Turtles; this sequence includes title graphics that tell their names and basic respective character traits. Now, there are those who have trouble remembering the names of the Turtles, so it may be helpful, but it seems unnecessary to have them spelled out like this when the film has characters refer to the Turtles by name several times, including their abbreviated nicknames ‘Leo, Donny, Raph and Mikey’, and when the Turtles’ personalities are represented clearly throughout. There’s even a scene where Michelangelo dedicates about a minute of screen time to introduce each of them and their traits, in the middle of the film no less, though this scene is quite obnoxious. Later on the Turtles even flat-out tell each other what their characters are. This kind of writing is far too on-the-nose when they can just show the audience their personalities instead of telling them.

Speaking of writing, the usage of dialogue could show more restraint. Sometimes characters talk when they don’t need to – for example, when Casey Jones mocks a chained Shredder before closing the police van doors on him. That paints him as just too cocky to be likeable. Other times the excess of dialogue tends to be obnoxious, especially around Bebop and Rocksteady, however unintelligent their characters are meant to be.

The actors playing CGI characters are more tolerable than those playing live action characters, at least on the heroes’ side. On the villains’ side, the quality is mixed. The Turtles’ representations are more closely related to their personalities or temperaments in the cartoon show. Leonardo (Pete Ploszek) sounds strong but gentle, the character being dutiful and taking charge, but losing focus when things don’t go his way; Donatello (Jeremy Howard), while making devices far ahead of modern technology, speaks in understandable terminology, he is relatively soft spoken, explanative and appears sensitive; Raphael (Alan Ritchson) has a hint of gruffness, sometimes raising his voice, displaying the tough, impatient and fiery character; and Michelangelo (Noel Fisher) is represented as the youngest of the group, joking and playful, though not the sharpest tool in the shed. Their voices match their personalities and there’s really no fault in their vocal performances themselves. Master Splinter (Peter D. Badalamenti, voiced by Tony Shalhoub) is fair enough, but making few appearances.

Megan Fox’s performance as April O’Neil, while not particularly bad in the last film, gives significantly lower energy than that of, say, the 1987 cartoon version. When the character is actually doing something, like breaking into a laboratory, Fox does a decent job, but overall its difficult to get invested in a performance that seems unfortunately bored and/or tired. It doesn’t help that April and the Turtles don’t have much of a relationship outside of sharing intel. Vernon Fenwick (Will Arnett) is probably the most unlikeable character in the film, annoyingly full of himself and having attained fame and glory despite little charisma and an unbelievable pretense. The character only contributes or becomes tolerable much later in the film.

Casey Jones is usually portrayed as a scruffy sporty vigilante, having fantastic skills with sports equipment like baseball bats, hockey sticks and pucks – in some versions, inspired by fictional cops on television, and in others, a professional hockey player. In this version, Casey (Stephen Amell) is a trained police officer, introduced with an overly cocky attitude for someone transporting major criminals, who dons his scruffy exterior and turns vigilante after he is suspended, and not even for very long. Admittedly, Amell’s naturalistic charm seems like it would make for a good new portrayal of the character. However, there are several examples of dialogue where the character sounds whiny and excessively cocky, not like the wannabe hero he’s supposed to be. Possibly the most acceptable of the supporting cast is Police Chief Rebecca Vincent (Laura Linney), although this character seems eerily like the Director of National Intelligence from Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). In fact, there’s quite a few plot aspects taken from that film, one being the middle-aged blonde official who prohibits the heroes but later helps them, but also a portal in the sky through which machines from another world come, and one of the villains betraying the other – in fact that last one happens twice.

While the Turtles seem well represented and the supporting cast seems dismal, the villains of the film are hit and miss. While looking nothing like the Shredder in the last film (and yet playing the exact same character), Brian Tee gives a portrayal of a patient but ruthless criminal mastermind with a stone-faced expression that doesn’t quit. It’s simplistic to an extreme, but it does make him look like a formidable villain. Tyler Perry plays as Shredder’s coerced scientist Baxter Stockman, who appears consistently jovial. One can see this character being enjoyably excited, but the reality leans more towards annoying.

New appearances include that of cartoon favourites Krang (Brad Garrett), and the criminal lackeys Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Stephen “Sheamus” Farrelly), characters that fans have wanted to see adapted in the sequel. Garrett’s vocal delivery as Krang is a fair reflection of the cartoon version. The design of his brain-like body is closely based on that of the cartoon also, as are the designs of Bebop and Rocksteady (although Bebop’s shades are incredibly outdated), though Krang’s robotic body is more metallic and doesn’t have many distinguishing features. In their human forms, Bebop and Rocksteady appear as eccentric criminal partners and best friends. After they transform into their respective anthropomorphic warthog and rhinoceros forms, their characters seem to drastically change, exaggerating their eccentricity into a farce. The general characterisation of the cast is severely limited, that so many characters can be considered annoying.

There are plenty of scenes to scratch your head at. Michael Bay doesn’t waste a chance to blatantly sexualise Megan Fox, in April’s introductory scene no less, where she disguises herself as a flirtatious blonde ‘nerd’ and then dons a tied shirt and miniskirt (in a sequence where her legwear disappears between shots). The sudden reveal of Krang is disappointing. If you look hard enough at the trailers, you can see a long-distance shot of the Turtles fighting Krang’s robotic suit. In the movie, he just walks in out of the shadows without even the briefest of tense buildup to a dramatic reveal. Bebop and Rocksteady’s transformation is explained to be a form of atavism, so are the filmmakers under the impression that humans evolved from warthogs and rhinos? Not even close! And then there’s the clichéd “people fear what they don’t understand” line. Writers should know better by now.

The action scenes have exciting value, ranging from inventive to so silly that you can’t help but laugh, though are far from flawless. For instance, the chase scene between the Turtle Van and the Foot Clan is quite creative, but is a poorly edited sequence. Slow motion is often overused in fast-paced action. The final battle with Krang is not as good as one would have expected. While the appearance of the Technodrome may play well to an audience’s nostalgia, and while the fight is energetic, the goings-on of the fight are hard to see given the camera proximity, angles and movement, and the shading of the character designs blend them into the environment, especially in the case of Krang’s robotic body. Krang appears with what looks like some cool weaponry, though some things he pulls out of the Technodrome he doesn’t seem to use, at least not on camera.

While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows has some form of entertaining value from time to time, there are far too many aspects that work to the film’s detriment: much of the dialogue and performances, the disorganised editing, several annoying characters, easily resolved subplots, visually disappointing climax, noticeably dubbed lines from time to time, and a lack of dramatic or emotional connection between the characters outside of the Turtles themselves. The laughable silliness and nostalgic appeal can at some times make the film somewhat watchable, but overall it is a bad movie.

X-Men: Apocalypse

Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse is the eighth installment of 20^th Century Fox’s X-Men film series, following on from Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), which used a time travel plot to establish a new timeline for the films, consequently making the original trilogy mostly irrelevant to the series’ continuity. As the third film in the series’ prequel trilogy, the film takes place in the 1980s, when En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse – the first mutant, self-proclaimed god and one of the most powerful villains in the X-Men stories – awakes after millennia of hibernation and sets out to use the most powerful mutants to take over the world. The film recasts and reintroduces the characters from the original X-Men trilogy, particularly Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm and Nightcrawler.

One might ask why X-Men: Apocalypse takes place as part of a prequel trilogy rather than starring the original main cast and following on in the ‘not too distant future’. More specifically, why are the X-Men fighting Apocalypse, one of their biggest baddies, in the past rather than at the latest chronological point? Aside from the fact that many of the original cast didn’t sign on for the project, Bryan Singer’s goal was to make an origin story for the X-Men team. Since the original trilogy is basically irrelevant now, this film in fact does take place at the latest point, although one’s question remains whether the X-Men fought Apocalypse in the 80s of the original continuity of their cinematic universe and never mentioned it. Regardless, an advantage to Singer’s idea is that it has the opportunity to better introduce those characters that were underdeveloped if not blank slates in the first film.

The actors playing Scott Summers/Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are likeable. In contrast to his adult depictions of supposed leadership skills, Cyclops is seen with a great deal of vulnerability with the manifestation and lack of control of his powers, and with being a newcomer to Xavier’s school, but with a hint of attitude. Jean’s general expressiveness is generally simplistic, having nuances of defensiveness and fear, and her character seems quite brave and smart, she tells Scott off a couple times, and the film intends a kind of close relationship between her and Xavier, though it’s barely fleshed out beyond a couple of scenes. At first Jean appears mildly annoyed at Scott’s clumsiness (even though he is essentially blind at the time). One gets the general idea that the two don’t get along at first, which, considering that Jean and Cyclops are supposed to become a couple, is yet another romantic subplot where the two people who don’t like each other eventually end up together, if not similar. Nightcrawler is probably one of the characters that fans have most wanted to see again since Bryan Singer’s X2 (2003). These three characters are all pretty simplistic, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in Nightcrawler’s case his simplicity as a friendly nervous fish out of water makes him very likeable. The trio forms the main body of a small social group, which is nice to see, and they appear to be a functional and proactive team when push comes to shove. The movie also introduces Jubilee (Lana Condor) as a minor character, with a design recognisable from the comic books and TV show, and part of the students’ little social group.

The returning cast stars James McAvoy, who gives an effortful portrayal of a younger Charles Xavier/Professor X as a kindly, idealistic, brave and supportive figure and educator, with some moments of humour here and there. Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) is given an arc in the story that shows him as a sympathetic and more especially humanised character before transitioning into a tragic villain, and Fassbender’s performance illustrates this greatly through gentility, intensity and vengeance. Strangely, Mystique’s go-to disguise in the prequels is that of, well, Jennifer Lawrence, which she adopts throughout most of the film. It is mentioned why she doesn’t appear in her default blue form more often, or in any other disguise like in previous films, but the explanation is brief. This seems illogical for a shapeshifter to do when she’s apparently on the run. There are times when the character has some semblance of expressiveness, particularly in action scenes, and one doesn’t deny the character has some appealing qualities, but the subtly aggressive facial seriousness could be seen as somewhat of a niche in Lawrence’s acting style.

Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult), while appearing friendly and smart, has arguably little focus on him. In the comics, Hank’s blue beastly appearance is alterable but a permanent part of his character, a challenge because he looks different in a society where many discriminate against mutants. In this movie, and in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Hank can go in and out of his mutant form; so one of his central character traits is absent in the adaptation, frankly making him less relatable. One particular line of dialogue in the film makes him sound like a less uncontrollable Hulk more than Beast. Rose Byrne gives a wide-eyed performance as Xavier’s old flame Moira, the character basically serving as an intelligent investigator and informer nearer the beginning and maintaining a supportive role here and there in the second act. Lucas Till also returns to his role as Alex Summers/Havok, though it is quite hard to recognise him from Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class (2011), at least at first glance. He serves to introduce his younger brother Cyclops to Xavier’s school. Fun fact: in the comics, it is Cyclops who is the older brother of Havok, but that may be nitpicking to criticise. Certainly not least on this list of mentions is the return of Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver (Evan Peters), known as Pietro Maximoff in the comics, who is easily one of the best parts of the movie. With a cool personality and humorous super-speed segments, this character is good for some funny moments.

One might infer that the major muscular mutant villain Apocalypse would have a deep voice, but Oscar Isaac conveys it much colder. Surprisingly, this works rather well as it contributes to a somewhat frightening portrayal of the character. There are moments when the voice artificially deepens too, which contrasts to denote his strength and power as well as calm ruthlessness and influence. His physical performance makes the character look dignified and authoritative, as well as acting subtly threatening. The design of the character takes a deal of inspiration from the comics – not as ridiculously muscular, but dark, imposing, and even having hints of technological parts on his armour. Joining Magneto as Apocalypse’s four “Horsemen” is weather-manipulating Storm (Alexandra Shipp), psychic fencer Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and winged teen Angel (Ben Hardy), known as Archangel in the comics usually when in Apocalypse’s service or possessing metal wings instead of feather ones. The four are supposedly representative of war, famine, pestilence and death, though they don’t seem to be specifically catered to particular pseudo-biblical roles like in the comic books or cartoon show. Magneto never manipulates a country’s missiles, Storm controls the weather and doesn’t cause a hunger crisis, Psylocke has a psychic sword and katana and doesn’t inflict diseases, and Angel kills virtually no one. With the exception of Magneto, the Horsemen don’t seem to have much focus on them. The film shows them being initiated and gives brief suggestions of why they join Apocalypse’s team, Storm in particular, but there’s not as much time given to their characters to give them identities outside of the way they look and their basic personality traits. That said, they work well as adversaries to the X-Men, the actors’ physical and facial performances are fine, and their character designs stand out.

One thing the audience might notice is this film has some gruesome moments compared to other X-Men films, with characters onscreen being crushed or contorted, blood splatter, and the way Apocalypse uses his molecular manipulation to some horrific effects. There are some action scenes here and there, which are entertaining in their own right, but the best is easily the climactic battle. The fight choreography and camera use gives a sense of intensity, the editing is nothing to complain about, the stakes are high, opponents are more or less matched against each other, and it has a number of exciting moments. While one might feel that it may be drawn out just a little, it is a thoroughly entertaining battle with fantastic effects and its resolution is amazing!

A major positive of this film is its powerful score by John Ottman. The music could be viewed as grand to the point of manipulative, making scenes so immersive that even the obligatory Stan Lee cameo becomes a serious role as opposed to the usual funny moment when the audience can point him out. The film has a colourful design; all the characters stand out visually and colour grading changes depending on location to set different moods.

The overall story is okay. It raises the stakes with one of the X-Men’s most powerful villains. Its heroes are simple but likeable. The plot is essentially based around the heroes responding to the emergence of the villain, but it has some dramatic plot points that make for some good ideas for interesting scenarios or challenges. There are a couple of clichéd lines, such as “people fear what they don’t understand”, but mostly the dialogue works well, distinguishing characters, allowing for dramatic scenes with some memorable quotes, and having its fair share of funny lines.

As an experience, X-Men: Apocalypse is thoroughly enjoyable. It has plenty of emotional, funny and dramatic moments. The writing has imagination to it. As an origin story for the team, it does well at introducing the collective, though the individuals have mixed success, but the film makes an attempt and a good start for future installments. The acting is generally good. The visual style is inviting. The visual design allows the environments and characters to stand out. The action is fun with great tension, and the music is gorgeously powerful. It is a fantastic movie for superhero fans, worth watching for its spectacle, and one is excited to see what the filmmakers will bring next time.